The Secret
by Once Upon a Pairing
Summary: It was a bit funny to Tony how the press always seemed to know everything, but not a single reporter ever noticed the bruises. Luckily, the Avengers are smarter than the press. Mentions of child abuse and suicide attempts.
1. Prologue

Tony Stark, for the lack of a better word, was an actor, and had been since the day he was born.

He was arrogant, self-centered, and spoiled, the press snarled. He was merely a narcissistic brat, they snapped. It was almost laughable to Tony, but even he couldn't admit it was a relief that they didn't notice. It was better, easier, that they didn't know the truth. Really, truly, the real male was insecure, had a low self esteem, self-destructive, and at fifteen, had become dangerously suicidal.

Oh my, would it have caused a scandal. They were a loving, close family in public, sure, but behind closed doors was a completely different story. Howard Stark was an alcoholic through and through. At times, it ended badly for poor Maria, and more Tony as he got older. The doctors were paid off, any footage erased, and bruises covered. Anything major could be covered by Tony's 'clumsiness'. Not a word in the papers ever suggested otherwise.

Occasionally, a servant of his father's would spare him a pitying glance or two, or his mother would whisper reassurances in his ear of peace and a life without beatings and pain. But just like his facade it was lies, lies, all lies.

A year before his parents died, there had been three suicidal attempts, all cleverly covered up with cash, hacking, and threats. The more days passed, the more the youngest Stark wanted to close his eyes and never have them open again.

His only regrets when his parents died was that his mother would never know a life without abuse.

Long, long after that, his PTSD didn't get better, or even lessen. The flashbacks and nightmares were still just as vivid, Tony still couldn't stand to look at a belt, much less wear one, and other things often set off panic attacks. And Steve, that dumbass, would talk about Howard (not father, the man was never a father) so fondly and it made Tony want to punch him in those perfect teeth.

He wouldn't confide in anyone, not even Pepper.

But sometimes it hurt so bad, and he was so terrified, and at times he wish he _could. _But he couldn't. No, no no. Imagining the look on her face sent him into shivers. Would she think it was his fault? Would she treat him accordingly? Would she quit because she was so disgusted?

And so, once again, Tony kept the secret.

* * *

**I might extend on this and show Pepper and the team finding out if I get the inspiration, but I think I'll just leave it at that.**


	2. Pepper

Virginia Potts, better known as Pepper Potts, liked to think that she knew Tony Stark better than everyone else.

Well, really, she did.

She knew things the press or people wouldn't be interested in. The little quirks and habits of the man. Like after a good, long rain, the billionaire would order JARVIS to open all the windows because he loved that lingering scent of it, or that his favorite ice cream was nothing extravagant or weird, but simply vanilla. Those were the things she loved knowing about him. It was almost special, because it wasn't likely anyone else would ever find out these things. She had taken it upon herself to memorize each one of the pointless facts about her boss.

It was because of her careful observation of him that she learned about The Secret in the first place. There were plenty of hints of The Secret in the time she had been worked for Tony, but there were three that mattered the most, because without any one of them, it might have never been found out.

The first hint was from years of watching him. It had become obvious over time that his snarky and sarcastic attitude was to distance himself from others and hide his hurt feelings.

The second hint was Tony's drunken ramblings. She was 'escorting' (she called it that instead of dragging to make him feel better) and he mumbled something incoherent. All she had managed to pick out was 'belt', and that worried her. But in the morning, Tony said nothing about it and Pepper knew better than to ask.

The final hint was the one that made the puzzle pieces fit, and let Pepper see the whole picture. It was nearly one in the morning. Pepper usually wasn't up this late, much less at Tony's place, but some forms needed to be filled out and objects to order for building, because there was always business to be done. Finishing up the last paper, she considered crashing for the night before deciding against it and packing up her stuff.

She probably would have, had she not heard the moaning from Tony's room.

Instantly, she knew something was wrong. It wasn't the good kind of moaning. Tony never, _ever_ moaned like that. In a flash her stuff was on the floor, and JARVIS had known and opened the usually locked door for her. It didn't take her long to be at his side.

Seeing him, so vulnerable and open was worse than the moaning. He was thrashing and muttering, drowned in a cold sweat and looking just so miserable Pepper just wanted to scream. She took a moment to collect her bearings before she spoke.

"Tony." But her deafened voice couldn't break him from his personal hell. She tried again, louder.

"Tony!"

His eyes flashed open and he quickly sat up. His eyes scanned the room frantically, but they seemed to see nothing. Somehow, the assistant knew exactly what to do.

"Tony, it's Pepper. Remember? You're in Stark Tower. Nobody's going to hurt you, alright? Everything's going to be fine."

His pupils landed on her, and a spark of recognition settled in his eyes. Then, a splash of something else. It took Pepper a moment to place it, and when she did, her stomach dropped.

Shame.

"Oh geez- Sorry, Pep. Did I worry ya? I must've been talking in my sleep. But everything's alright now." He smiled, but his hands were shaking. Pepper wasn't inclined to believe the lie and leave him in this state.

"Tony..." she stated softly. "Don't lie to me." In a second, the mask shattered. He was too tired to keep it up, plus, Pepper could see through it as if it was transparent anyway.

"I'm so sorry, Pepper. I try so _hard_ but I can't do anything right and- god, he said it would make me better but it only hurt and I just want it to stop, and I want to stop-"

She swallowed thickly. "Who hurt you, Tony?" Her voice was calm, soothing, but inside she was furious.

"It was never his fault, it was mine, and it's still and always gonna be mine because I can't stop messing up. I'm not a _hero_, Pep, even that bastard knew I am a villain in disguise-" Tears shone in the genius' eyes.

"Tony," she started again, her anger flaring even more so. "Who hurt you?"

"Him. It was always him. Him, him, him. He _pretended _to be proud of me and love me but no, no, no, he hated me so much, everyone hates me so much..." He was outwardly sobbing now.

It all finally clicked together in Pepper's head. "Oh, _Tony_." she breathed out, and before she processed what she was doing her arms were around him. He stiffened for a moment before relaxing into her embrace. She just held him.

"Tony, listen to me. I don't and never will hate you. You're the kindest, most caring person I've ever met. You're certainly not a villain. You're a hero. If you weren't, you wouldn't be Tony Stark. You never deserved any of it. Ever. I'm going to make it better. I'm going to help you get over this." With that promise, The Secret had somehow become more bearable.

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**Yup. I'm pretty predictable. I continued this, obviously. Bruce will be next, because I've already planned it out. I don't really like this chapter at all; I might rewrite it later. Also, do you all think I should add chapters of Loki or Coulson finding out too?**

**LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books: I think it's pretty obvious the way that he acts, because at times he's a completely new person. Haha, yeah. I've seen Iron Man 3 and you can just see his self hate there. I get so many feelings from that movie.**

**Olympus97: Luckily for you, I have. I honestly don't know how half of the team is going to react, so I'll probably watch their respective movies a couple times.**

**Elemental Nikki: Thanks! Continuing seems to be happening, so let's see how this goes.**

**Anonymous: Thank you for the compliment! I really am excited to see how this fanfic plays out.**


	3. Bruce

After a couple weeks of living in the tower, Bruce was quite comfortable with Tony Stark.

Once the awe had worn off, he realized that the genius was actually a pretty fun guy, and that was a lot coming from Bruce. He'd always felt uncomfortable around most people, preferring to remaining silent than get his two cents in. But, oddly enough, he felt safe and unguarded around the billionaire.

And even more strangely, Tony felt safe around Bruce, even with the threat of the Hulk looming over him.

On some level, he could tell that the other connected with him, but he couldn't find out how. They were completely different.

Until he realized they weren't.

The longer the gamma scientist lived with Tony, the more obvious the mask became.

They weren't very different at all.

It was after a difficult battle that the whole truth was revealed.

Even protection from the Iron Man suit wasn't enough to protect Tony against their new opponent. The man was a first time villain, but he had planned and prepared so well, he turned out to be unusually difficult. He had been studying their battles for nearly a year, carefully cataloging the heroes' weaknesses and fighting styles.

Even Tony ended up giving the guy some props.

However, it turned out that the machines he built were good for the specific Avenger they were to be paired against, but add a second one to the mix and the thing was toast. Unfortunately, groups of two didn't end of working as there was six robots and only three groups. Somehow, Tony ended up battling three at the same time; one his own, Bruce's, and the last Hawkeye's, so the others could focus on the ones they were fighting together.

No one knew why he even dared, especially since Fury had specifically told him not to.

He probably would have gotten thoroughly chewed out if he wasn't unconscious.

Bruce, feeling more than a little guilty, offered to treat him. It was soon apparent he would have a lot of work to do. Tony was practically covered in injuries.

One new pair of pants and a ride to the lab later, he was ready.

"Does he have any allergies to medication?" he questioned aloud, glancing over at the man lying on the table. Hesitantly, he brought up Anthony Stark's medical files.

He wasn't happy invading his friend's life like this, but Pepper was unreachable. She was a apparently in a highly confidential meeting; the kind where they searched everyone and took away phones and other types of technology, It wasn't like he could ask Tony himself, either. Biting his lip, it only took a second to bring up the digital information.

Instantly, he knew something wasn't right.

His juvenile records were completely perfect, which worried him. Living with a inventive parent warranted a few accidents. A burn here or there, maybe a stitch or two. But in his there was absolutely nothing.

A bad feeling settled over Bruce, but he didn't stop as he began to dig deeper. Compared to his housemate, his hacking skills were okay at best, but it didn't take much to access his real medical past.

When he did, Bruce's eyes widened in horror, and for a moment, took a greenish tint. No, these kind of injuries were consistent with-no, not Tony...

It took several minutes of deep breathing for him to calm down enough to approach the subject again. Broken and fractured bones, internal bleeding, concussions, burns, deep, infected cuts... Tony had experienced it all. It took all of Bruce's willpower not to Hulk on then and there.

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, Tony..." he murmured, looking sympathetically at the male. It made sense now. It made so much sickening sense that it hurt. He picked up the phone, told the medic that he wouldn't be able to help Tony at this point, and proceeded to his designed room.

Though he knew the Hulk would never hurt Tony, he didn't want to chance it.

He would do anything to spare him that pain.

* * *

**Again, not my favorite chapter, but I'm amazed by all the feedback I've gotten! You guys are unbelievable, and I love hearing your ideas. The reviews really inspire me!**

**Elemental Nikki: Thank you for the compliment! I really try to get into the head of each of the characters, and it's nice to know that I'm doing well.**

**LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books: Honestly, Coulson _is_ their babysitter. For Loki I was thinking something along the lines of oh-Odin-this-obnoxious-mortal-actually-understands -and-he-even-had-it-worse-than-me kind of horror. Nah, I was thinking of doing something where they all find out separately and put it to use if Tony has a panic attack or something. I'm not really sure...**

**KRAlover: It's a good idea, but it won't work with me, I'm afraid. I've always had trouble making sure all the characters have say, favoring some over others. I'm worried that if I do something like that, that some voices might be neglected.**

**Hachikonohime: Man, I swear our brains have got to be connected or something, because I've been thinking about doing that! I've actually been considering making something along those lines into a separate fanfic when I'm finished with this one. Can you imagine how panicked the Avengers would be?**

**GirlFromNorth: Well, I hope you enjoyed it :) Bruce has always been one of my favorite characters, but it was a bit of a challenge to get into his mindset.**

**JazzNProwl's sparklingAriaFyre: Thank you! I've always felt there was more of Tony than just what we saw on the screen, and it's been a pleasure exploring that.**

**THEBATMANIMPOSTER: Thank you, and don't worry about it, I am the exact same way~**

**RawR: Haha, yeah, I know what you mean. I go on those too often to be healthy.**


	4. Clint

Clint never found out The Secret, because he always knew.

He wasn't stupid; as a victim himself, it was rather easy for him to recognize others with similar pasts. He knew a facade when he saw one. Of course, he wasn't exactly expecting the great Tony Stark to have demons so like his, but when he looked back on it, he realized it wasn't that surprising.

The famous ones always had pressure. Pressure to be perfect, with no flaws or mistakes. Perfection. It didn't take much to come to the conclusion of that was what Howard Stark expected.

The difference was that Clint knew it was wrong to hit a defenseless child. He knew it was wrong to be harshly punished for something you couldn't help. It was abuse, he now knew, and it wasn't right, and never was. Tony, for how smart he was, obviously didn't know. It was almost funny that the assassin knew something a full out genius didn't. Sure, Tony wasn't one to condone hitting a kid, but for some reason it was different when he was the kid himself. If Clint hadn't had the same mindset once upon a time, he would have thought that was crazy.

It was amazing what someone could gain from meeting someone who had gone through the same experience.

Stark was still hurting. A lot.

The sniper wanted to help, make it go away. He really did, but he had no idea how. His own memories didn't help at all, not in this situation. All he remembered was that he wanted it to stay hidden and he never wanted to speak a word about it. That certainly wouldn't work. Once again, Clint wished that his training covered shit like this. It would make life a hell of a lot easier.

Usually, he would talk to Natasha about things like this, but he really didn't want to reveal his teammate's secret. Even if it was likely that she already knew. He knew better than to take the chance, even if he trusted her more than anyone. He didn't like it, but he wasn't as disloyal as to tell something this personal. Definitely not when he understood it this much.

So he did what he did best, because he wasn't a man to be on the ground confronting.

He watched.

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**Shorter chapter because there wasn't much for Clint to find out and because I felt I kept repeating myself.**

**Also, sorry for the wait but I was very busy. Expect ****weekly**, if not daily, chapters now.


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